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Post by fwclipper51 on Dec 27, 2023 16:01:24 GMT -5
The New York Yankees lose veteran players to Angels and New Senators in 1960 AL Expansion Team Player Draft.
December 14,1960-The 2 new American League franchises, L. A. Angels and the "new" Washington Senators are the 1st expansion teams in over a half of a century in MLB, they will select their team rosters in the 1st ever MLB player expansion draft.
The LA Angels would make Yankees Pitcher Eli Grba, their 1st selection of the expansion player draft, while the "new" Senators follow by tabbing another Yankees veteran hurler Bobby Shantz. Then the Senators will trade Bobby Shantz to the Pirates for Pitcher Bennie Daniels, 1B R. C. Stevens and INF Harry Bright. Also, the Yankees would lose Pitcher John Gabler (MLB Rule 5 Player Draft), veteran 1B Dale Long and Minor League 1B Bud Zippel to the new Nats. The Senators had originally drafted veteran Yankees INF Gil McDougald, but he refuses to go. Yankees Minor League 1B Bud Zippel will replaced him in the draft. Gil will retire as an active MLB player. Also, Gill would turn down a $100,000 Player-Manager offer from the Angels Owner Gene Autry. He will become the Baseball Coach at Fordham University.
Also, the Yankees would lose veteran OF Bob Cerv, young Reserve OF Ken Hunt and veteran hurler Duke Maas to the LA Angels. Former Yankees Manager Casey Stengel would help out the Angels with their player draft selections as a Special Talent Advisor. Angels Owner Gene Autry had offered Casey the job of being the club's 1st Manager, but he had turned it down. Veteran NL skipper Bill Rigney will take the job. The AL teams had frozen their 40 Man MLB rosters on August 31,1960 for players to be available for the expansion team player draft in December.
Looking back at the 1960 AL player expansion draft, the Yankees lost some veterans and some back-up players, who couldn't break into the regular Yankees line-up. Veteran lefty Bobby Shantz was traded because the Yankees felt that Luis Arroyo could take over the lefty spot in their bullpen. Veterans P Duke Maas and OF Bob Cerv were re-obtained by the team in the spring of 1961 in trades. The 1961 New York Yankees were going into a transition with a new Manager Ralph Houk and General Manager Roy Hamey. Veteran INF Gil McDoughal had retired from MLB. The former Yankees Manager Casey Stengel's infield platoon system would be gone with the set infield consisting of 1B Bill Skowron, 2B Bobby Richardson, Shortstop Tony Kubek and 3B Clete Boyer. Former Yankees Pitcher Johnny Sain was brought in as the new MLB pitching coach, replacing veteran Eddie Lopat. Manager Ralph Houk would put Yankees Ace starter Whitey Ford on a 4 day rotation schedule for the 1961 AL season. The team would continue to be retooled during the 1961 AL season with trades that bring in Reliever Tex Clevenger, Starter Bud Daley, INF Billy Gardner, OF/1B Bob Hale and 1B Earl Torgensen, while Yankees Pitchers Ryne Duren, Art Ditmar, Johnny James, Danny McDevitt, INF/OF Deron Johnson and INF Fritzie Brickell would change teams. From the Yankees Minor League System: INF Tom Tresh, Pitcher Al Downing, Reliever Hal Reniff, OF Jack Reed and Catcher Jesse Gonder would come up and play briefly for the team during the 1961 AL season.
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Post by fwclipper51 on Dec 27, 2023 16:07:54 GMT -5
An Interesting article on the 1960 AL Expansion Team Player Draft
Edited By Clipper
The Expansion of 1961 was the 1st expansion undertaken by MLB since the National Agreement brought peace between the American League and the National League in 1903. There were no franchise moves for 50 years after the agreement was signed, and the structure of Major League Baseball became further and further mis-aligned with the demographic realities of the United States. Three of the weaker franchises - the Boston Braves, Philadelphia Athletics and St. Louis Browns - moved to greener pastures in the early 1950s, then baseball was dealt a huge shock when two of its stronger and more glamorous franchises - the Brooklyn Dodgers and New York Giants - got out of the New York, NY area because of ballpark issues and headed for California in 1958. The city of New York, miffed by the decision, put together a mayor's committee headed by William Shea to look at bringing another franchise to the city.
Before talk of expansion began, the most serious plan had been to start a 3rd major league, the Continental League, which would rival the 2 existing leagues by tapping into vacant or under-served markets, including New York, Houston, TX, Minneapolis-St. Paul, Denver, CO, Toronto, ON and others. With Hall of Fame Executive Branch Rickey on board, the fledgling league lined up a number of impressive ownership groups in those cities and was on the verge of putting actual teams together. Seeing that the threat of a 3rd league was all too real, the National League turned around and announced that it was ready to expand into some of the proposed new markets. It put together an expansion committee headed by two of its most powerful Owners - Walter O'Malley of the Los Angeles Dodgers and Philip Wrigley of the Chicago Cubs. In August 1960, the Committee announced it was prepared to absorb up to 4 of the proposed Continental League teams; on October 17th, National League President Warren Giles announced that it had accepted the cities of New York and Houston to begin play in 1962.
To say that the stodgy American League was caught flat-footed would be an understatement. Its own expansion committee had never done any serious work, and before it could figure out what to do next, it was placed before another event it had failed to anticipate: Washington Senators Owner Calvin Griffith's decision to move his team to Minnesota. To avoid being left in the dust, Del Webb, the owner of the AL's flagship franchise, the New York Yankees, announced that the American League would expand as well, and in a case of profoundly stupid one-upmanship, that it would do so for 1961! The league owners had decided that they absolutely had to get a team into the Los Angeles area in order not to forfeit the west coast market entirely to its rival league, and that it should also replace the Senators in Washington, lest the absence of a team stoke the wrath of politicians in the nation's capital. Of course, none of the prospective Continental League ownership groups were based in those 2 cities, so it had to scramble to put 2 teams together with spring training only 4 months away.
Owners in Washington were found relatively quickly, and the team was able to draft a couple of players on November 28th in the 1960 Rule V draft (Ray Semproch and Former Yankees Pitcher John Gabler), but the Los Angeles team had to pass, as it did not exist yet. On December 6th, the League finally managed to come to an agreement on territorial rights in Southern California with Los Angeles Dodgers Owner Walter O'Malley, and to put together an ownership group around Hollywood film star Gene Autry. The expansion draft was only days away at that point, but Autry had the good sense of hiring 2 veterans to help him put together a squad, General Manager Fred Haney and Manager Bill Rigney. Clipper's Note: Autry brought in former New York Yankees Manager Casey Stengel as a Special Talent Advisor, since Haney and Rigney were NL Veterans. The Washington team had had just a few weeks longer to prepare, around GM Ed Doherty, Manager Mickey Vernon and Farm Director Hal Keller.
On December 14, 1960, an expansion team player draft was held in Boston, MA for the newly-named Los Angeles Angels and the "new" Washington Senators, expansion clubs that would begin play in the American League in 1961.
Each existing American League club had to make available for the draft 7 players who had been on their active roster as of August 31, 1960, and 8 others from their 40-man roster. The expansion clubs paid $75,000 for each of the 28 players they drafted, with a maximum of 7 players drafted from each existing club, and with no more than 4 going to 1 club (not including minor league selections; these cost $25,000 each and were limited to 1 player taken from each existing team). The 2 new teams were required to take at least 10 pitchers, 2 catchers, 6 infielders, and 4 outfielders, in that order, and then pick the 6 additional players from the ranks of whoever was still available. An immediate problem was that, in order to guarantee the secrecy of the proceedings (in particular, so that players who had been left unprotected would not be aware of that fact), only President Joe Cronin was in the room with the 5 executives from the 2 expansion teams; he was supposed to ensure the rules were enforced, but did a terrible job of this, creating another mess. In particular, he had failed to inform teams that they could not draft more than 4 players from a single organization.
The Angels had picked New York Yankees pitcher Eli Grba with their 1st pick, and the Senators replied with Bobby Shantz, another Yankees hurler. The 3rd pick, Duke Maas, was also a Yankees pitcher, a sign of the imbalance of talent in the AL at the time. As the draft proceeded, Cronin lost count of how many players had been taken from each team, and of the rule that 1 team could not select more than 4 players from any one of the existing teams. By the time the draft was over, realizing his mistakes, the AL President had to force the 2 new teams to change one of their selections each, to respect the maximum of 7 players drafted from each team, and to proceed with a number of trades to balance things a bit better; in the end, even with those patches, there was no way that the rule about no more than 4 players coming from one team could be applied without scrapping the whole draft and starting over. Cronin elected not to do that, so Washington, for example, ended up with 6 of the 7 players picked from the Kansas City A's.
By some miracle, the 2 teams did manage to get assembled by spring training and to be ready for Opening Day in 1961. The Angels somehow managed to survive those chaotic beginnings to do relatively well on and off the field, but the "new" Washington Senators were doomed from the start, it appears. They would become perennial losers and move out of Washington, DC to Arlington, Texas by the end of the 1971 MLB season.
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Post by fwclipper51 on Dec 27, 2023 16:20:57 GMT -5
The 1960 AL expansion team player draft allowed the Yankees to open up some roster spots to replace the veteran players that were lost to the 2 new teams. Veteran INF Gil McDougald's retirement opened a infield spot on the MLB roster. Minor League 1B Bud Zipel lost in the player draft to replace Gil McDougald, allowed a young Joe Pepitone to move up in the Yankees minor league system. Also the Yankees let reserve 1B Kent Hadley go as a minor league free agent freeing up another roster spot. In the MLB Rule 5 player draft the Yankees would lose only 1 player, hurler John Gabler to the "new" Washington Senators. The time period between the end of the 1960 World Series Game #7, saw a new General Manager and new Manager with a revised MLB coaching staff. The team would go to their last spring training camp held at St. Petersburg with a new look and direction, with more changes to come with the MLB roster. The 1961 New York Yankees season would be one of the most exciting seasons of the post WWII era in the team's history.
Clipper
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Post by inger on Dec 27, 2023 16:49:24 GMT -5
A nice set of nostalgic posts with information that was from circumstances just a few years before my awareness of the game itself.
My father left when I was a fetus and since he loved to play baseball, my mother wouldn’t allow me to watch it until I was 9.5 years old in 1963.
I knew more about the Orioles since I was in MD., but I was immediately attracted to the Yankees once I saw that beautiful logo on their caps. I didn’t even realize it was an interlocking NY. I didn’t know enough geography at 5-6 years of age to realize that Baltimore was “local” (I was at the midpoint between Baltimore and Philadelphia, near the Mason-Dixon Line).
Thiank you for sharing your vast knowledge of that era in the team’s history. You’re a true asset to our group, Clipper!…
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Post by pippsheadache on Dec 27, 2023 16:52:11 GMT -5
Good write-up Clipper. I remember Fleer put out a series of "Baseball Greats" cards in 1960, and one of them was of Branch Rickey standing in front of a door that said "Continental League." That league was a big story for a few weeks.
I can't believe I was upset that the Yankees lost Eli Grba in the expansion draft. Eli Grba!!
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Post by fwclipper51 on Dec 27, 2023 17:42:21 GMT -5
Good write-up Clipper. I remember Fleer put out a series of "Baseball Greats" cards in 1960, and one of them was of Branch Rickey standing in front of a door that said "Continental League." That league was a big story for a few weeks. I can't believe I was upset that the Yankees lost Eli Grba in the expansion draft. Eli Grba!!
In 1952, the Boston Red Sox signed hurler Eli Grba as an MLB amateur player. He didn’t appear with the Red Sox at the MLB level. On March 14,1957, he was traded by the Red Sox along with OF Gordie Windhorn to the Yankees for OF Bill Renna. He would spent the 1957-1958 seasons in the military. Grba went 8-9 with a 4.74 ERA and 1 save in 43 games for the 1959-1960 Yankees, before being selected in the AL Expansion Team Player Draft as the #1 draft pick by the Angels in December of 1960. His former Yankees Manager Casey Stengel working for the team as a Special Talent Advisor recommended him to the Angels front office. With the Yankees, he appeared in 1 game of the 1960 World Series against the Pirates, not as a Pitcher, but as a Pinch-hitter. He would lead the 1961 Angels starters in team wins with 11. With the Angels, he had posted a 20-24 record with a 4.40 ERA and 3 saves in 92 games. His serious drinking problems would ended his MLB career, he would pitch in the minor leagues for several seasons before retiring from the game. He would overcome his drinking problems, rejoining organized baseball. He would later work in the Brewers farm system as a pitching instructor. Also, he would become a minor league manager. He was honored by the Angels during their 50th anniversary celebration as the original Angel player.
Eli Grba, Grew Up Managing his 1st professional team at Reno in 1989, Eli Grba passed along knowledge gained both on the field and off, he told The Los Angeles Times that August.The lessons he learned on the field stemmed from the 5 seasons he played in the majors from 1959 to 1963. The lessons off it, according to The Times, he learned through his lifelong battle with alcoholism.
"I tell these guys to be prepared for when it's over," Grba, sober 8 years, told The Times. "After this glorious life of baseball, there is still a lot of life left. It took me a long time to grow up. I don't want these kids to make my mistakes."
Grba played in the majors with both the Yankees and the Angels. But his addiction to alcohol hampered his career and ultimately sent him out of baseball. He later sobered up and returned for a brief run as a minor league coach and manager, including managing rookie Princeton in 1990.The Times chronicled Grba's comeback story in 1989. Grba later chronicled it himself in a book published in 2016, titled "Baseball's Fallen Angel."
Grba's career in baseball began in 1952, signed by the Red Sox as an amateur free agent out of high school in Chicago.
Grba played his first 4 seasons in the minors for the Red Sox before being traded to the Yankees. He debuted in the Bronx in 1959.
He got into 19 games for the Yankees his 1st year, starting 6. He then got into 24, starting 9 in his 2nd. He went 6-4 for the Yankees in 1960, with a 3.68 ERA.
His time in the Bronx led him to be invited years later to the Yankees' Old Timers Day in 2008. Asked by The New York Post how he felt to be included, Grba replied "small."
"You have (Darryl) Strawberry out there. The other guys were there. Geez, do you really belong here?" Grba told The Post. "But yeah, I do, because in 1960 I had a pretty good year with them."
Grba moved to the Angels for 1961. The team made him the 1st selection in the expansion draft, the 1st Angel.
He went 11-13 in his 1st year there, with a 4.25 ERA. He picked up one of his wins in a May game against Boston. He then went 8-9, with a 4.54 ERA his 2nd year there. He went 7 scoreless in a September 1962 win.
Grba got into 12 final games for the Angels in 1963, ending his big league career. His professional career then ended 4 years later.
Grba began drinking in high school and that continued through his major league days. His addiction then helped end those days. By 1981, he lost his 1960 American League Championship ring to borrow $150, according to The Reno Gazette-Journal.
He last took a drink July 31, 1981, and has maintained his sobriety in the decades since, according to a 2016 story. He credits his change to a religious experience.
"Something hit me. I'm not lying. I said, 'God, if you're there, take me. I'm nothing,'" Grba told The Gazette-Journal in 1986. "Tears came out of me. I sobbed an an hour."
Grba got back into baseball as a coach in the minors in 1982. He took over as manager at Reno after an earlier coaching stint, in 1989. He then coached at rookie Princeton in 1990. He later served as a scout.
Grba published his book in 2016, at the age of 81. His book is available on Amazon. To The Florence Times Daily in Alabama, Grba explained that he wanted to tell his story - and help others.
"I hope my message will help other people," Grba told The Times Daily. "But regardless of what I say or do, it has to be the person who wants to do it. But it goes to show what can happen if you put your trust in God's hands."
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Post by pippsheadache on Dec 27, 2023 17:46:08 GMT -5
Wow, great info on Eli Grba. I didn't know any of that. Kudos to him for a heroic comeback.
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Post by fwclipper51 on Dec 27, 2023 18:23:11 GMT -5
Wow, great info on Eli Grba. I didn't know any of that. Kudos to him for a heroic comeback.
Clipper |
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Post by rizzuto on Dec 27, 2023 18:23:56 GMT -5
Good write-up Clipper. I remember Fleer put out a series of "Baseball Greats" cards in 1960, and one of them was of Branch Rickey standing in front of a door that said "Continental League." That league was a big story for a few weeks. I can't believe I was upset that the Yankees lost Eli Grba in the expansion draft. Eli Grba!!
In 1952, the Boston Red Sox signed hurler Eli Grba as an MLB amateur player. He didn’t appear with the Red Sox at the MLB level. On March 14,1957, he was traded by the Red Sox along with OF Gordie Windhorn to the Yankees for OF Bill Renna. He would spent the 1957-1958 seasons in the military. Grba went 8-9 with a 4.74 ERA and 1 save in 43 games for the 1959-1960 Yankees, before being selected in the AL Expansion Team Player Draft as the #1 draft pick by the Angels in December of 1960. His former Yankees Manager Casey Stengel working for the team as a Special Talent Advisor recommended him to the Angels front office. With the Yankees, he appeared in 1 game of the 1960 World Series against the Pirates, not as a Pitcher, but as a Pinch-hitter. He would lead the 1961 Angels starters in team wins with 11. With the Angels, he had posted a 20-24 record with a 4.40 ERA and 3 saves in 92 games. His serious drinking problems would ended his MLB career, he would pitch in the minor leagues for several seasons before retiring from the game. He would overcome his drinking problems, rejoining organized baseball. He would later work in the Brewers farm system as a pitching instructor. Also, he would become a minor league manager. He was honored by the Angels during their 50th anniversary celebration as the original Angel player.
Eli Grba, Grew Up Managing his 1st professional team at Reno in 1989, Eli Grba passed along knowledge gained both on the field and off, he told The Los Angeles Times that August.The lessons he learned on the field stemmed from the 5 seasons he played in the majors from 1959 to 1963. The lessons off it, according to The Times, he learned through his lifelong battle with alcoholism.
"I tell these guys to be prepared for when it's over," Grba, sober 8 years, told The Times. "After this glorious life of baseball, there is still a lot of life left. It took me a long time to grow up. I don't want these kids to make my mistakes."
Grba played in the majors with both the Yankees and the Angels. But his addiction to alcohol hampered his career and ultimately sent him out of baseball. He later sobered up and returned for a brief run as a minor league coach and manager, including managing rookie Princeton in 1990.The Times chronicled Grba's comeback story in 1989. Grba later chronicled it himself in a book published in 2016, titled "Baseball's Fallen Angel."
Grba's career in baseball began in 1952, signed by the Red Sox as an amateur free agent out of high school in Chicago.
Grba played his first 4 seasons in the minors for the Red Sox before being traded to the Yankees. He debuted in the Bronx in 1959.
He got into 19 games for the Yankees his 1st year, starting 6. He then got into 24, starting 9 in his 2nd. He went 6-4 for the Yankees in 1960, with a 3.68 ERA.
His time in the Bronx led him to be invited years later to the Yankees' Old Timers Day in 2008. Asked by The New York Post how he felt to be included, Grba replied "small."
"You have (Darryl) Strawberry out there. The other guys were there. Geez, do you really belong here?" Grba told The Post. "But yeah, I do, because in 1960 I had a pretty good year with them."
Grba moved to the Angels for 1961. The team made him the 1st selection in the expansion draft, the 1st Angel.
He went 11-13 in his 1st year there, with a 4.25 ERA. He picked up one of his wins in a May game against Boston. He then went 8-9, with a 4.54 ERA his 2nd year there. He went 7 scoreless in a September 1962 win.
Grba got into 12 final games for the Angels in 1963, ending his big league career. His professional career then ended 4 years later.
Grba began drinking in high school and that continued through his major league days. His addiction then helped end those days. By 1981, he lost his 1960 American League Championship ring to borrow $150, according to The Reno Gazette-Journal.
He last took a drink July 31, 1981, and has maintained his sobriety in the decades since, according to a 2016 story. He credits his change to a religious experience.
"Something hit me. I'm not lying. I said, 'God, if you're there, take me. I'm nothing,'" Grba told The Gazette-Journal in 1986. "Tears came out of me. I sobbed an an hour."
Grba got back into baseball as a coach in the minors in 1982. He took over as manager at Reno after an earlier coaching stint, in 1989. He then coached at rookie Princeton in 1990. He later served as a scout.
Grba published his book in 2016, at the age of 81. His book is available on Amazon. To The Florence Times Daily in Alabama, Grba explained that he wanted to tell his story - and help others.
"I hope my message will help other people," Grba told The Times Daily. "But regardless of what I say or do, it has to be the person who wants to do it. But it goes to show what can happen if you put your trust in God's hands."
Congratulations, Clipper! You have to wake up pretty early in the morning to stump Pipps! |
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Post by bigjeep on Dec 27, 2023 18:59:05 GMT -5
I already knew all this stuff!  |
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Post by chiyankee on Dec 27, 2023 19:08:18 GMT -5
There's a lot of great stuff here.
It's interesting how the two leagues operated so independently of each other, each making their own decisions with their own league presidents and later with their own rules, with one league playing with a DH and the other not. It would be decades until both leagues operated under one leadership group.
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Post by inger on Dec 27, 2023 19:42:05 GMT -5
I already knew all this stuff! Well then. Now I’m pissed off because in “all this time” you’ve been here, you never told us any of it… 🤓 |
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Post by pippsheadache on Dec 27, 2023 20:51:59 GMT -5
Wow, great info on Eli Grba. I didn't know any of that. Kudos to him for a heroic comeback.
ClipperNow them I did know about. When Duren was with the Phillies late in his career, it was at a time when a bunch of us would loiter at the players exit at Connie Mack Stadium after the game and talk to or get autographs from the players. I've mentioned many times on here how Gene Mauch would patiently talk about the game to us stupid kids, so I was always a fan of his. Anyway, Duren was always very surly and brushed past us and you could smell the alcohol on him. An hour after the game! But kudos to him for getting back on track later in life. We just thought he was a nasty drunk, but of course we had no perspective to make such judgments. |
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Post by pippsheadache on Dec 27, 2023 20:58:05 GMT -5
Congratulations, Clipper! You have to wake up pretty early in the morning to stump Pipps! Yeah, you would think that with two of my favorite subjects -- baseball and alcohol -- that I would know things like that. I need to up my game. Headed to the liquor cabinet right now.  |
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Post by bigjeep on Dec 27, 2023 21:08:43 GMT -5
Eli had 2 Yankees teammates, who would have their own comebacks from drinking problems: Closer Ryne Duren and Catcher Johnny Blanchard.
Clipper Now them I did know about. When Duren was with the Phillies late in his career, it was at a time when a bunch of us would loiter at the players exit at Connie Mack Stadium after the game and talk to or get autographs from the players. I've mentioned many times on here how Gene Mauch would patiently talk about the game to us stupid kids, so I was always a fan of his. Anyway, Duren was always very surly and brushed past us and you could smell the alcohol on him. An hour after the game! But kudos to him for getting back on track later in life. We just thought he was a nasty drunk, but of course we had no perspective to make such judgments. I remember when Duren came in with his coke bottle glasses, the first pitch sailed into the seats! After that, the hitters stood back from the plate! |
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